Count Down
by Myra109
Summary: Seamus's life up until his seventh year at Hogwarts told through numbers. "Two boys. One statement. One reply. One kiss." Seamus/Dean


_I haven't written any Seamus fanfiction in a while, and I found this old idea in one of my notes on my notes app and decided to finally write it. It actually turned out completely different than what I originally had planned, but I think it turned out a lot better than my original idea._

 _I know Seamus has an Irish accent, but I didn't know how to write his accent, so just imagine it._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

 **WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE**

* * *

10 fingers. 10 toes. 2 hands. 2 feet.

Two year old Seamus wiggled his toes and fingers, making sure he had the right number of everything. There was no exact reason for counting, but he supposed it was his way of distraction. Distraction from what, you might ask?

Distraction from the fighting.

"You and that little freak couldn't survive without me! I pay the bills, keep a roof over your head, and put food on the table, and you can't even keep the house clean!"

A loud crash sounded, followed by his mommy yelping.

"Sean, please! Seamus is in the next room!"

"You think I care about that little brat! I gave you everything- my time, my money, everything I had- and what did you give me in return? A freak for a child!"

"He's not a freak!"

"He certainly isn't normal!"

But he was normal, Seamus thought. He had ten toes, ten fingers, two hands, and two feet. He had the right number of everything. Didn't that make him normal? Why did Daddy still think he was a freak?

10 fingers. 10 toes. 2 hands. 2 feet.

* * *

1 letter. 10 beer bottles. 10 lashes. 1 scream.

Seamus swallowed his screams as his father's belt connected with his back.

He didn't know why Daddy was so angry. All he knew was that it was because of the letter that arrived in the mail that day, the day Seamus turned eleven.

One letter.

Daddy had begun drinking, and Seamus knew that when Daddy drank, he got mad.

Ten beer bottles.

Mommy always warned Seamus to stay away from Daddy when he was drinking beer or any kind of alcohol. He had an awful temper when he was intoxicated, and Mommy didn't want Seamus to get hurt.

Seamus didn't listen to Mommy and got in the way. Daddy screamed and slurred nonsense words before ordering Seamus to remove his shirt while Daddy pulled his belt from the loops on his pants.

The leather slapped Seamus's back.

Ten lashes.

Seamus had been beaten before. He'd even go as far to say that it was a monthly routine, maybe even every other week if Daddy was having a rough time. Daddy got angry when he screamed, so Seamus had learned to keep his mouth shut.

But when Daddy brought the belt down for the last lash, Seamus couldn't stop himself from screaming, and Daddy spat on him as he passed, calling him weak and pathetic.

One scream.

Mommy arrived and helped Seamus sit up.

"Why's Daddy so mad?" Seamus sniffled.

Mommy smiled, weakly. "Seamus, darling... let me tell you about an amazing place called Hogwarts..."

1 letter. 10 beer bottles. 10 lashes. 1 scream.

* * *

1 goodbye. 1 train ride. 2 boys. 1 friend.

Seamus had never liked trains. They were loud and always sounded so vicious. The whistles and the fog that puffed out of numerous tubes on the train always made Seamus uncomfortable. He hated loud noises, and while Seamus was a friendly boy, people made him nervous. He always joked and talked non stop to try and feel more comfortable around other people, but that usually lead to them thinking he was annoying.

Seamus didn't want to say goodbye to his mom. He said bye at least a dozen times and kissed her ten times before she sighed and shoved Seamus into the crowd. When Seamus pushed and ducked his way back through, his mom had vanished.

One goodbye.

Seamus started counting as he slowly walked through the crowd.

A family of seven. A family of three. Six trunks. Four owls. Three cats. One toad.

Seamus counted the things he saw and when he neared the train, he started counting his steps. He counted each step and somehow, the counting strengthened him. His quivering legs became stronger, and he was able to climb the steps onto the train.

One step. Two step. Three step. Four...

He found an empty compartment, and as soon as he sat down, the train began to chug its way out of the station.

One train ride.

"Can I sit here?'

Seamus looked up and saw one boy standing in the doorway. He had dark skin and charcoal smudged hands. He shuffled his feet and switched his notebook back and forth between each hand, anxiously.

Seamus nodded, and the boy sat down. One boy became...

Two boys.

Seamus wasn't usually good with people, but he enjoyed this boy's company. _Dean Thomas_ was the sweetest person he'd ever met. His mom was sweet, but she could be a piece of work when she wanted to be, not to mention she never stepped between Seamus and his dad when his dad hit him.

Seamus wasn't sure if Dean liked him as much as Seamus liked Dean, but he didn't need to worry. Seamus hesitated before getting off the train once they arrived at Hogwarts, and Dean smiled before grabbing him and leading him to the boats. They sat in a boat together, and two others joined him.

"I'm Mark," one said, "and this is my friend Chad."

"I'm Seamus, and this is Dean," Seamus stated.

Mark laughed. "What's going on with the accent?"

"Yeah," Chad said before smiling at Mark. "I'm a leprechaun, and someone's eaten my lucky charms," he stated in a bad Irish accent.

Seamus frowned. He wanted to fire back, but his dad always told him children should be seen and not heard. If his dad had it his way, he wouldn't be able to _see_ Seamus either.

"Hey," Dean snapped. "Leave my friend alone."

Seamus smiled.

One friend.

1 goodbye. 1 train ride. 2 boys. 1 friend.

* * *

5 beds. 1 window. 5 stories. 5 boys.

Seamus wasn't sure what to think of the dorm room. The room was bigger than the one he had at home, but the furniture made it seem more crowded and claustrophobic. The beds were fit for scrawny eleven year olds, and he wondered if the size of the beds would be changed as they grew older and taller.

Five beds.

Seamus glanced out the window, and if he thought really hard, he could convince himself he could see all the way to his house in Ireland from Gryffindor Tower. He knew that couldn't possibly be true, but it gave him the comfort he needed.

One window.

"I live with my magical parents and my six siblings- five brothers, one sister. My two oldest brothers have already left school, and my sister's coming to Hogwarts next year." -a red haired boy named Ron

"I live with my Gran. Both of my parents are magic, and I don't have any siblings, unfortunately." -a chubby boy called Neville ("lucky," Ron muttered in response to the no siblings part, but they all knew Ron wouldn't trade his family for the world)

"My parents died when I was all baby. I live with my Muggle uncle, aunt, and cousin." -Harry Potter

"I'm a Muggleborn. My dad died, so it's just me, my mom, and three sisters." -Dean Thomas

"My dad's a muggle, and my mum's a witch. Quite a shock for my dad when he found out." -Seamus, who leaves out the part about his dad hating anything magic, including Seamus and his mom

Five stories.

Harry Potter. Ron Weasley. Neville Longbottom. Dean Thomas. Seamus Finnigan. They'd be sharing a dorm for seven years, and Seamus finally felt like he had something that resembled a stable family.

Five boys.

5 beds. 1 window. 5 stories. 5 boys.

* * *

1 monster. 6 petrifications. 1 nightmare. 1 hug.

There was something roaming the school, petrifying the students, and Seamus feared that one day, the monster would kill someone and unlike petrification, death cannot be reversed. Death is eternal.

One monster.

Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat. Colin Creevey, a first year Gryffindor. Nearly Headless Nick. Justin Filch Fletchley, a Hufflepuff. Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor in Seamus's year. Penelope Clearwater, a Ravenclaw.

Four out of six had been Muggleborns.

Dean was a Muggleborn.

 _Seamus was walking down the hall between classes. He was alone, and he didn't know why. Students weren't supposed to go anywhere alone, not with the monster on the loose._

 _Seamus tripped, and at first, he thought it was due to his shaking legs, but then he realized that he had tripped over a body._

 _He sat up, and against his better judgement, he turned the body, which was face down, over and screamed._

 _It was Dean, and he wasn't just petrified. It was much worse._

 _Dean Thomas was dead._

One nightmare.

"Seamus, wake up!"

Seamus sat bolt up right in his bed, and he saw Dean Thomas- very much alive and well, although concerned- staring back at him.

"Dean, the monster got you," Seamus sobbed. "You were dead."

Dean pulled him into an embrace and stroked his head as Seamus cried into his chest.

"Shh," Dean murmured. "It was just a nightmare. I'm okay, Shay. It's okay."

One hug.

1 monster. 6 petrifications. 1 nightmare. 1 hug.

* * *

1 murderer. 1 bed. 2 hands. 2 boys.

Seamus read it in the papers in Diagon Alley, and everyone was talking about the escape of Sirius Black, mass murderer, at school that year.

One murderer.

Seamus's nightmares were typically about his dad or the events of last year when he was so afraid of losing Dean, but now the nightmares were both similar and entirely different. Images of Dean's mangled body with the murderer standing above him, a knife hovering over Dean's vulnerable chest, haunted both his dreams and his waking hours.

Seamus was awakened from one of these nightmares when Dean, the subject of his fear, crawled into his bed.

One bed.

Dean smiled, weakly. "No more nightmares tonight," Dean whispered, and his eyes gave Seamus the idea he was having nightmares, too.

Dean grabbed Seamus's hand, and their interlocked hands lay on the bed between them.

Two hands.

Dean and Seamus drifted off to sleep, and for the first time all year, neither had any nightmares.

Two boys.

1 murderer. 1 bed. 2 hands. 2 boys.

* * *

1 tournament. 4 champions. 3 events. 1 tragedy.

The Triwizard Tournament returned to Hogwarts after it'd been cancelled many years before.

One tournament.

There were supposed to be three champions, and they were all to be seventeen years of age.

Fleur Delacour, a pretty blonde girl from the French school, Beauxbatons.

Victor Krum, an athletic teen from Durmstrang.

Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff.

But as if Fate decided the school year wasn't eventful enough, an impossible event occurred. The Goblet of Fire spat out a fourth name, the name of a student who had not yet reached seventeen.

Fourteen year old Harry Potter.

Four champions.

Each event was more stunning and frightening than the last.

The first event, they had to fight a dragon because apparently, no one was worried about a law suit if any of them died while competing (that was only a joke back then. They all knew the champions would be removed from the event before anyone died or got severely injured. No one could've predicted the ending of the tournament).

The second event, Seamus and Dean leaned over the docks as the champions swam through a mermaid infested lake (by the way, these mermaids would not be earning any roles in _The Little Mermaid_. Maybe they could play some piranhas in a pirate movie or something because that's what they reminded Seamus of) to save their friends, who were trapped at the bottom of the lake and running out of oxygen.

The third event was a dangerous maze, but no one could've predicted the outcome of the tournament.

Three events.

At the end of the third event, a hysteric Harry Potter reappeared, clutching the dead body of Cedric Diggory.

One tragedy.

1 tournament. 4 champions. 3 events. 1 tragedy.

* * *

1 mistake.

Why didn't he believe Harry? He'd lost everything. Dean deserted him because he was acting like a jerk. Seamus was all alone because of one huge mistake.

1 mistake.

* * *

1 girl. 1 attack. 1 sacrifice. 2 boys.

Dean was dating Ginny Weasley. Seamus didn't know why this fact fueled him with anger, but this rage was consuming him and building a wall between him and his best friend.

One girl.

Seamus was awakened in the middle of the night by multiple screams and bangs, and he could see colorful lights- spells- flashing outside the window.

Hogwarts had been attacked.

One attack.

Seamus raced out of the dorms with Dean on his heels, and they stared in horror at the mayhem that was their school.

Death Eaters everywhere. Students and faculty dead, alive, injured, fighting for their lives, and everything in between.

Seamus saw the spell coming before Dean did.

"Dean, look out!" He yelled, and he tackled his friend to the ground. The spell- Seamus wasn't sure what it was, but it was red, so it wasn't the killing curse- smacked Seamus in the head and sent him to the floor.

Everything was fuzzy...

"Seamus, stay awake!" Dean shouted.

Seamus wanted to sleep, but Dean's voice and Dean's hand cradling his head gave him the strength to keep his eyes open.

One sacrifice.

Dean held Seamus, placing the smaller boy's head in his lap, and fired hexes and spells at anyone who _dared_ to come near Seamus.

The attack seemed to go on forever, but when the dust finally settled, the moonlight coming through the windows shined down on two boys, both exhausted and one injured, but both alive and together.

Two boys.

1 girl. 1 attack. 1 sacrifice. 2 boys.

* * *

198 days, 18 hours, 17 minutes, and 33 seconds

That's how long Dean was on the run before him and Seamus were reunited.

198 days, 18 hours, 17 minutes, and 33 seconds

* * *

2 boys. 1 statement. 1 reply. 1 kiss.

The war was over. Seamus and Dean had survived, and now, they lay side by side in Seamus's bed in Gryffindor Tower.

Two boys.

Seamus took a deep breath and said the words he'd been wanting to say for a long time.

"I love you, Dean."

One statement.

Seamus held his breath, waiting for the disgust his father promised would come if Seamus ever came out as gay.

He didn't get the response he was expecting.

"I love you, too, Seamus."

One reply.

Dean's lips touched his own, and for the first time in his entire life, Seamus felt like his life was completely and utterly _right_.

One kiss.

* * *

 _Make sure to review, everyone!_


End file.
